On the Money with Katy Kicker

On the Money: Conversations with money bloggers

Welcome to the first in a new series of interviews with well known money bloggers, On the Money. My first guest is Katy Stevens, from KatyKicker.com. Katy is a UK blogger covering topics including parenting and money saving. She lives in Essex with her husband Thomas and 2-year-old daughter Daisy Blue. Katy loves to help people make and save money, kick their finances into touch and live their best life. I hope you like the series and discover some fascinating new blogs.

What is your earliest memory of having and spending money?

I can remember standing in line at school waiting to buy my lunch. I would always try and work out how I could have the most filling meal by spending the least amount of money. Usually because my friend Bradley and I were trying to work on our short stories and needed supplies!

Have you ever felt out of control with your money?

Yes. When I was on maternity leave after having my daughter I was suffering from postnatal depression. Fortunately we have good cash flow, so I didn’t accumulate debt or anything, but I wasn’t controlling my money well either.

What was your worst money decision?

Moving into a flat with my ex just before the recession started. Whoops. Thank goodness we didn’t buy that bigger new build flat we went to look at twice!

What was your best money decision?

Saving up to buy a house with my husband. We’re feeling so excited for this year and looking forward to having a 50% LTV (loan-to-value) – hopefully!.

What is your best tip for saving money at home?

Meal plan and cook from scratch. Two tips I know…! By cooking from scratch you’ll eat healthier, get better nutrition and save LOTS of money. You ARE trading your time a little but your body will thank you for it, and so will your purse-strings.

What is your best tip for saving money out and about?

Take drinks and snacks with you – particularly if you have children. When we were on holiday recently the drinks were £1.80 a bottle. We took our own bottles and packed drinks every day. As we were out 2-3 times a day this saved us a small fortune, even without the snacks we packed too.

What would be your advice to the 18 year old you regarding finance?

Don’t keep up with the Joneses. They won’t care if you build up debt and can’t afford to live your current existence anymore.

What was your biggest ever bargain?

It’s hard to pick just one! One of my favourite ever bargains was a white gold, diamond and topaz ring. It was reduced by 90%, thanks to an error when I worked at a high-street jeweller. I bought it the same day I saw it. The next day we got the email down from Head Office to advise us to adjust the prices, and my purchase was already safely at home!

What was your most recent purchase (not including bills, groceries, etc)?

Birthday presents for my daughter who recently turned two. We went to Toys ‘R’ Us and took advantage of their closing down sale to get lots of bits, that were only marginally cheaper than Amazon and Argos still. Sad times!

Do you stick to a monthly budget?

Not really…! We have a budget for bills and expenses, and I keep a lose budget for groceries. We’re in a good time of our life. I don’t want to waste money unnecessarily but we have days out, lots and lots of holidays and live a good life too.

Do you have any long term financial goals you would like to share?

We are looking to buy our house this year, with a 50% LTV. I want to be mortgage free in five years – although maybe 10 years is more realistic!

If you won a million on the lottery, what is the first thing you would do?

A lovely interview with Katy, thank you for that Jane and Katy. But – and I don’t wish to harp on about this, as I’ve mentioned it before – apart from the wonderful ring for 90% off the retail price, all the things you have mentioned, Katy, are how we used to live before people-had-plastic, i.e. credit cards. I am convinced that that was when the rot set in; people buy more or less what they wanted, when they wanted, regardless of their income or bank balance. Taking drinks out with us wasn’t considered a cost-saving measure (when we went out for the day with our children), it was just what people did. A trip to a cafe or restaurant was then only a special-occasion-treat. Coffee didn’t come from Costa or Starbucks, but from a Thermos flask.
Also we always cooked from scratch as there were few convenience foods (to m e ‘convenience’ foods were tins of salmon and peaches) and what there were (such as Vesta dried curries which you made up with boiling water) didn’t taste very good anyway. Furthermore, there wasn’t the choice of foods in the shops that we have today, so people tended to have a weekly meal plan anyway which seldom varied – that is one good thing about today, the wonderful array of foods in our shops (says she, remembering a time when avocados, peppers and aubergines arrived in the shops and looked so strange when all we’d been used to were potatoes, carrots, turnips, swede and cabbage and sprouts!)
It is wonderful, though, that people such as you, Jane, and you Katy, are whipping people into financial shape (more carrot than stick, I have to say) or at least advising them on simple cost-saving matters which could save them from falling into a huge pit of debt. So thank you for that, and I look forward to the next interview, Jane.
Margaret P

I,m with Margaret too. Never had or want a credit card. Not sure i understand Katie, but that is ok. Her dream is getting 50 percent LTV mortgage. Meanwhile i assume paying rent. Dont get her this is our time we will have lots of holidays. We are all different.